Truck ban on Rhine bridge will affect German chem parks

30 November 2012 19:51[Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--A ban imposed on Friday on heavy vehicles traffic on an important Rhine bridge near ?xml:namespace>Cologne, Germany, will affect logistics at the Leverkusen and Dormagen chemical production parks, officials said.

Authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia state issued the ban – with immediate effect – to prevent vehicles with a total weight of 3.5 tonnes or more from crossing the Leverkusen autobahn Rhine bridge after inspections showed serious damage to the bridge.

The situation required immediate action, officials said.

It remains unclear for how long the ban will be in effect, and it is uncertain whether the damage can be repaired at all, they said.

Ernst Grigat, who heads the Leverkusen and Dormagens site for chemical park operator CURRENTA, said the bridge was of high importance for producers at both sites.

While the ban was surprising, safety must have priority if the bridge’s condition no longer allows truck traffic, Grigat said.

He appealed to authorities to take steps to improve Rhine river shipping between Cologne and Dusseldorf to ensure logistics at the chemical sites over the long run.

According to German media reports, some 12,000 trucks are crossing the bridge every day.

The bridge is almost 50 years old and the state wants to eventually replace it with a new bridge.

Leverkusen and Dormagen are important production sites for Bayer, LANXESS and a number of other chemical firms.